Submission for *HiddenYume-stock's steampunk/art nouveau contest. Details here: [link] and here: [link] . This thing was tailor made for me, man. The concept was to take something from their steampunk stock folder ([link]) and use it as reference (in the case of non-photomanips) for the central figure, then give the whole thing an art nouveau twist. I used the second one from the left in this set: [link] .

I was hoping to find one that I could transform into one of my characters, and as luck would have it, I did! This is Bastion and Viola's paternal aunt Amelia. She's somewhere in her early thirties, or possibly even late twenties, being her parents' youngest. She comes from a long line of aristocrats, but she grew extremely irritated with her greedy, scheming family at a young age and ran away. Ironically, she's now possibly the most powerful pirate in the world. To be fair, though, she does quite a lot of good for those in need, is in it mainly for the adventure (she and her crew are generally after something pretty legendary rather than robbing ships) and has an extremely strict moral code. The only family members she has had any contact with in the last fifteen years are Bastion, Viola, and their parents, all of whom she likes very much.

A few notes on her outfit and accessories...

I transformed the skirt and corset combo in the original photo into a zone front gown remeniscent of a particularly lovely one worn by Kirsten Dunst in Marie-Antoinette: [link] The gun was inspired by one of Hellboy's weapons. I think it's called Big Baby.

Also, the composition was based heavily on one that appears in Alphonse Mucha's Documents Decoratifs, currently published as 'The Art Nouveau Style Book of Alphonse Mucha'.

EDIT: Added a gear pattern to the underdress, which I'm very proud of and wanted all of you to see. Also added a scar to her cheek, which I'd forgotten, more makeup (blush and eyeliner), fiddled a bit with the colour of her hair and the colour of all that bronze, and fixed the flower pattern on her bodice.